Same-sex marriage (SSM) in New York

2009-SEP to DEC:
Senate defeats bill.Poll shows majority of public support SSM.

Sponsored link.

2009-SEP: Special session of the Senate:

There were rumors that Governor David Paterson (D) would call a special session
of the Senate near the end of 2009-SEP in order to consider same-sex marriage.

CitizenLink, a service of Focus on the Family Action -- a
fundamentalist Christian social action group -- urged their New York readers to
contact their state senators and ask that they vote against the bill. 1

Prior to mid-2009, all of the fundamentalist and other evangelical web sites
and news sources that we monitor had all placed the word "marriage" in quotation
marks when referring to same-sex marriage. Their motivation appears to be that
they wish to denigrate the concept of same-sex marriages as invalid. Also, they typically
referred to gay "marriage", or homosexual "marriage" even
though many same-sex marriages include one or two bisexuals.

However, a noticeable shift occurred later in that year. In the mailing by
CitizenLink, they referred to "same-sex
marriage" (without the quotation marks) instead of "gay
'marriage'." Some commentators suggested that with the retirement of founder James Dobson, Focus on the Family was evolving towards a less confrontational stand towards LGBTs.

On SEP-25, we sent CitizenLink an Email requesting clarification
whether this was a typo or the result of a policy change. As expected, we
received neither a response to our question or an acknowledgement of its
receipt.

2009-NOV-10: Senate vote expected during 2009:

Governor David Paterson had hoped to have the senate vote on the SSM bill
early in the week of 2009-NOV-08. However, the Senate got bogged down dealing
with a deficit problem. He announced on NOV-10 that the Senate leaders had
agreed to a debate and vote on the marriage issue at "... a date not certain
between now and the end of the year." He said that he would call another special
session of the Senate during the week of 2009-NOV-15 and that marriage equality
would be on the roster. 2

2009-DEC-02: Senate defeats SSM bill:

The Senate finally voted on the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the
state. The bill was defeated by a vote of 24 in favor to 38 against. Every
Republican voted against the bill, as did a coalition of eight Democrats led by
Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., (D-NY 32) an pentecostal pastor. He was the only
senator to argue against the bill in the debate. He suggested that the Senate could pass a bill authorizing a voter referendum.

The debate seemed to center upon whether equality or
discrimination is a traditional American value. Diaz said:

"The reality is that it has been the Republican Party and their traditional
values, and the Republican Party with their moral values, and the Republican
Party with their family values, that has been for years and years what has
kept the values in this whole nation alive. And now they are being asked to
throw away these values. ... Remember your rules, remember your values:
remember your family values, traditional values, moral values. Go back to the
defense of your traditional values. Join me a Democrat, join me a Hispanic,
join me a black, join me a Puerto Rican, and join me in bringing a referendum
to the people."

Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-NY 14), President Pro Tempore of the Senate, said that
at stake was:

"... an individual's right to feel good about themselves."

Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-NY 34), Deputy Majority Leader, said:

"For the first time, all men and women will be created equal. This law will
expand the central American ideal of equality."

Sen. Eric Adams (D-NY 20) compared the banning of same-sex marriage to
"reaching back to the most ugliest [sic] period of America," when some states
had laws banning interracial marriages. 3

Jeremy Peters of The New York Times found that senators who voted
against the bill said that the public was gripped by economic anxiety and were
uneasy about marriage equality. Senator Tom Libous, the deputy Republican leader
said:

"I just don’t think the majority care too much about it at
this time because they’re out of work, they want to see the state reduce
spending, and they are having a hard time making ends meet. And I don’t mean to
sound callous, but that’s true." 4

Peters wrote:

"Pollsters say that while support generally is building for
same-sex marriage, especially as the electorate ages, voters resist when they
fear the issue is being pushed too fast." 4

Is a referendum on SSM possible?

About 30 out of 50 states have established a system of direct citizen initiative. Estimates from various sources range from 27 to 31. Propositions in California are a well known and typical example: An organization submits the text of a proposed referendum to the state government where it is checked for clarity, lack of ambiguity, and constitutionality. Some states have a strict law limiting any one referendum to a single, narrowly defined topic. Some propositions are what we call stealth initiatives: they are promoted and publicized as dealing with a single topic, but in fact are worded with far greater scope. There have been initiatives that were promoted as banning same-sex marriages, but actually restricted the rights of all non-married couples of whatever gender makeup.

If approved, the group collects signatures from voters who support the proposal. If a sufficient number of signatures are reached, the measure is automatically placed on the ballot at the next November general election. If 50% of the voters plus one favor the referendum, then it has the same status as a law passed by the legislature.

One positive feature of citizen initiatives is that voters are able to bypass the legislature and create legislation that the lawmakers are either too frightened to touch, or are reluctant to pass because their votes have been previously sold to lobbyists. One negative feature of citizen initiatives is that any group in society who have fallen out of favor -- like followers of a small religion, secularists, sex-workers, or any other minority can have their human rights restricted by a simple majority vote.

During 2009, New York State did not have a system for citizen initiatives. However, the legislature could conceivably approve an informal, non-binding referendum to be added to the ballot. However, the result would only have the effect of a public opinion poll.

In mid-2011, the New York Senate passed a bill that would create citizen initiatives.

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) mounts an effective campaign:

Brian Brown of NOM -- an agency that
opposes marriage for same-sex couples -- discussed the tactics involved in his group's
religiously motivated battle against equality in New York State:

"NOM was able to put out an enormous effort. We spent more than $600,000
using sophisticated technology that allows us to reach out to voters across the
state to make sure they knew what their politicians were up to.
..."

"State Sen. Joseph Addabbo (Democrat, of Queens) told the New York Daily
News about why he ended up voting 'no': 'Addabbo said he was simply
following what 74% of constituents who contacted him wanted'."

"That's right. In New York City, 74 percent of the constituents who wrote or
called Sen. Addabbo said: "We want you to vote no to gay marriage." Together we
can make a difference. ..."

"If you leave marriage to the politicians or the judges, the political
insiders will cut themselves deals that leave your values on the outside. But we
at NOM promise: We will not let that happen. We will never give up fighting for
the truth, for common sense, for democracy, for civility, for the idea that we
are made male and female, and meant to come together in love in marriage, for
life."

"God bless you! Until next week." 5

Sponsored link

2009-DEC-02: Poll shows strong support for SSM:

The Marist Poll released polling data on the same day as the Senate
vote. It indicates strong majority support for same-sex marriage in the state. There is a
9 percentage point spread between those who favor and those who oppose SSM:

Voters

Favor SSM

Oppose SSM

Unsure & no response

All registered voters

51%

42%

7%

Democrats

66%

29%

6%

Republicans

31%

62%

8%

Independents

51%

41%

8%

Men

45%

50%

5%

Women

58%

34%

8%

As usual, Democrats, Independents, women and younger adults support SSM while
Republicans, the elderly and men are opposed. However, the margins seem to be
larger in this state than elsewhere.

N = 805; The margin of error is ±3.5% 6,7

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.